Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils
The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a hardbound monster resource for the d20 System from Fast Forward Entertainment. Fast Forward Entertainment is a relatively new d20 publisher, but some of its authors are old hands. Jim Ward, Lester Smith, and Timothy Brown have been making D&D products for some time. Jim Ward's influence on Dungeons & Dragons dates back to the old Gods, Demigods, and Heroes book, and he later contributed to the Deities & Demigods sourcebook for 1E AD&D. Fast Forward Entertainment was already producing hobby games when the d20 System made it possible to throw their hats back in ring, and they were more than happy to expand the scope of their business to do so.
The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils features malevolent spirits from the myth and folklore of a variety of cultures.
A First Look
The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a 224-page hardbound book priced at $29.95 US. The cover has a red background, with an image of a horned skull on the front. The interior is black-and-white.
Each creature in the book has an illustration. The illustrations vary in quality. Some are passable, but a great many (too many) are rather unappealing. In some cases, an illustration seems to be done in a classical style representative of the culture from which the creature was drawn rather than mimicking the style common in gaming books. In other cases, the artwork is simply unprofessional looking and unsightly.
The font used is somewhat on the large side. The margins and column spacing, however, are slender, which gives the book a decent text density. Further, the book is arranged so that each entry begins on a new page, and it tries to fill in the excess space. Yet the book is a little pricey for the size. The cost is slightly above average for a hardbound book of similar size. It has the same price and page count as WotC's Manual of the Planes, which is a full color book with a higher text density. It is costlier than Sword & Sorcery Studio's hardbound books, but it still has a better cost per page than products such as Atlas Games' Touched by the Gods.
A Deeper Look
The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a monster resource that presents many malign creatures from folklore and mythology in d20 format. The book lists the creatures alphabetically by the creature name in a format similar to books such as the 3E D&D Monster Manual.
The book's creatures are all classified as evil outsiders under the d20 System rules. It attempts to classify them further as demons (the name used in the d20 System for certain chaotic evil outsiders) or devils (the name for certain lawful evil outsiders). Moreover, it classifies them according to the more specific categories of tanar'ri and baatezu, and even goes so far as to mention the "blood war" background that was created for these creatures in the 2E AD&D game. While normally I am the first person to defend the continued use of the terms introduced in 2E, in this case I am not so sure it is appropriate. Many of these creatures do not comfortably fit these categories, and it seems somewhat inconsistent to try to attain a modicum of historical accuracy and then turn around to try to fit the creatures into the background set out for them in older editions of the game. Sticking with the "demon" and "devil" type might have been fine. Better yet, many evil outsiders in the d20 System rules are not part of either category and perhaps the authors should have followed suit.
There is one convention that the authors broke with that I did appreciate, however. Some of the creatures presented herein are unique. A subset of those are treated as deities per the d20 System cleric rules and have domains described for clerics that follow them. Though some of the creatures seem a little weak for what most d20 players expect for deities, in some campaigns this power level might be appropriate, or the GM may decide that the stats in the book are only for a minor avatar or aspect of the creature.
The description section of each creature appears to be well researched and well written. They include a taste of the original folklore, often providing details of what malevolence they were attributed with and folk remedies that would supposedly repel them. This information seems like it would be convenient for working such creatures into cultures in the GM's campaign and makes a nice baseline for a creature's abilities.
The breadth of folklore from which these creatures are drawn is apparent and possibly a great boon for a campaign. If your players are jaded by typical fantasy gaming takes on fiends, some of these creatures may catch them off guard with their unusual natures and motivations. Some creatures that already have established statistics receive different takes here. For example, veteran players used to the pleasant nature of the djinni as they exist in the d20 System rules may be in for a rude surprise when they encounter the chaotic evil demonic version of the djinni.
A cursory look at the stat blocks reveals that in the case of basic attributes such as BAB and saving throw modifiers, the designers do seem to stick by the book. A look at some of the other statistics, though, reveals problems. Many creatures have CRs that seem to be off-target at best. Many creatures also seem to have arbitrary skill levels, including skill ranks beyond what a creature of their HD normally has access to and no mention of racial skill bonuses.
I also caught some apparent inconsistencies in alignment designations. For example, the unique devil Agares - lawful evil in alignment - rides a mount that boosts the morale of chaotic evil creatures. That sounds like a liability to me, especially if you use the blood war as described! Similarly, Ahriman is described as a lawful evil devil in the monster description, but his deity description pegs him as a chaotic evil deity.
I felt that some of the creatures were ill fits described as demons or devils - or even outsiders. Many creatures such as the gwyllion might better be described as fey. Perhaps in their attempt to fill the book, the designers were a little liberal in their determination of what should be included as demons or devils. Perhaps they would have been better backing off from the original concept and calling it something like an "Encyclopedia of Evil Spirits."
In addition to the impressive array of evil creatures provided by the book, the book offers a chapter on ways that such creatures may accidentally or intentionally be drawn into the Prime Material plane and enticed into service.
The accidental summoning rules provide a chance for a variety of different circumstances that might draw a demon to an area. The chances provided seem a bit high to me. For example, a gory battle will automatically draw a demon to the Prime Material plane. Under rules such as these, it seems like any major war would start a demonic invasion.
The intentional summoning rules are a little better conceived than the accidental ones. They provide the campaign trappings and game mechanics for spells involved when characters want to attract a fiend to their service. I personally prefer the mechanics presented in the d20 System rules if you want to keep it simple, and in Mongoose Publishing's Demonology: The Dark Road if you prefer more detailed treatment - but if you are not fond of prestige classes or the random nature of Mongoose's rules, Fast Forward Entertainment's rules may fill the bill for you.
Conclusion
I think that if you have a penchant for using demons and devils as foes in your game, this will be a somewhat attractive volume. Chances are you will be able to find some interesting concepts with which to catch your players off guard or to interject some creatures with an authentic mythological feel to them. Though I do not feel this work is as thought-provoking as Green Ronin's Legions of Hell, there are still some nice creatures in this book.
Many of these creatures will need some work, however. The rules for basic creature statistics are well defined, yet I am continually amazed by how many d20 System publishers flub up the basic plug-and-chug calculations. In this case, the problem seems to be confined to skills and save DCs, but I still think if you expect to compete in selling creatures for the d20 System, it is not a step you can afford to miss.
-Alan D. Kohler
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